Bearwood Corporate Services

Gordon Prentice: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission 
	(1)  if the Electoral Commission will place in the Library a copy of the report of its investigation into Bearwood Corporate Services;
	(2)  if the Electoral Commission will place in the Library a list of the officials and staff of the Conservative Party who did not accept the invitation for interview with representatives of the Electoral Commission as part of its investigations into Bearwood Corporate Services;
	(3)  if the Electoral Commission will place in the Library a copy of the report by forensic accountants commissioned as part of the Electoral Commission's investigations into Bearwood Corporate Services.

Gary Streeter: I will give the hon. Member a substantive reply as soon as possible.
	 Substantive answer from Gary Streeter to Gordon Prentice:
	The Electoral Commission informs me that, consistent with its disclosure policy, it has published on its website a case summary setting out the issues considered by the Commission during the course of the investigation, the information obtained in relation to those issues, and the legal basis for the conclusions the Commission reached.
	The Commission further informs me that, in the interests of effective regulation and having regard to the confidentiality and sensitivity of information provided, and the privacy and confidentiality of those involved, it is not the Commission's practice to release further information obtained during an investigation.

Trade Unions

Stewart Jackson: To ask the hon. Member for South West Devon, representing the Speaker's Committee on the Electoral Commission which trade unions have registered with the Electoral Commission as a registered third party in respect of the forthcoming general election to date; and how much Unite has spent as a registered third party to date.

Gary Streeter: The Electoral Commission informs me that as of 19 March 2010 seven trade unions have registered with the Commission as recognised third parties. These are Community, the National Union of Teachers, the Public and Commercial Services Union, the Educational Institute of Scotland, Unison, Unite and Usdaw. The Commission further informs me that recognised third parties must report their regulated spending to the Commission after the general election.

Community Relations

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Prime Minister pursuant to the answer of 4 March 2010,  Official Report, column 1304W, on building resilience, whether the paper from the Civil Contingencies Secretariat entitled Building Resilience: a new approach to crisis by M. S. D. Granatt, Head of GICS, Cabinet Office and J. P. Macintosh DSTL, Ministry of Defence, published in July 2001 and revised in February 2002 is classified.

Gordon Brown: Yes. The paper 'Building Resilience: a new approach to crisis' is classified.

Magilligan Prison

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many people are expected to be employed in the  (a) construction and  (b) running of the new prison at HM Prison Magilligan.

Paul Goggins: It is too early to provide specific answers, however it is estimated that between 150 and 300 people could be working on site, depending on procurement method and stage of construction.
	The new design would entail more cost effective staffing when the prison is operational.

Youth Custody

Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many  (a) young adults and  (b) women were serving a custodial sentence in prison in Northern Ireland in (i) January 2010, (ii) January 2009 and (iii) January 2008.

Paul Goggins: The information for the last Monday in each month is provided in the following table.
	
		
			   Young  o ffenders serving a sentence  Women serving a sentence 
			 25 January 2008 77 21 
			 26 January 2009 85 18 
			 28 January 2010 83 16 
		
	
	Young Offenders are defined as being aged 18 to 21 years. Upon attaining 21 years they are deemed to be adults and can be sent to an adult prison.

Departmental Records

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government when his Department's headquarters was last reviewed for compliance with the Public Records Acts; and what the results were of that review.

Barbara Follett: The Department's headquarters was reviewed by the National Archives for compliance with both the Public Records Acts and Lord Chancellor's Section 46 Code of Practice for Records Management under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in 2007. The outcome of the review was published on the National Archives website. This can be found at:
	http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/documents/dclg-summary -report.doc
	The outcome includes evidence of good practice; the challenges faced and recommendations. The Department also has put in place arrangements to ensure that records are managed on a day to day basis to comply with the requirements of the Public Records Acts and officials meet regularly with the National Archives to review record keeping arrangements.

Fire Services

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether his Department has provided guidance to fire and rescue authorities on the use of socio-demographic profiling to inform decisions on the provision of fire and rescue services.

Shahid Malik: A range of IRMP related guidance has been issued to FRAs and is available on the Communities and Local Government website at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/fire/developingfuture/integratedriskmanagement/
	The guidance, which is non-prescriptive, is designed to provide advice and assistance on IRMP and its associated processes, allowing local authorities and local communities to make appropriate decisions at the local level.
	The Department has also provided each fire and rescue service with a suite of software called the fire service emergency cover (FSEC) toolkit. This toolkit allows each fire and rescue service to undertake a risk-based assessment of their area. FSEC is based upon a geographical information system, which takes account of a range of factors including socio-economic and geo-demographic data, and uses bespoke software to calculate the probable losses based on a particular set of response strategies in terms of lives lost and property costs. That then enables the FRA to determine its optimum prevention, protection and response strategies appropriate to its own area.
	The Department has also recently published research on socio-demographics and fire risk, which can be found at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/fire/frsperforman ceanalysis

Housing: Conferences

Grant Shapps: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government 
	(1)  which  (a) Ministers and  (b) officials in his Department attended the MIPIM international property conference in (i) 2007, (ii) 2008 and (iii) 2009;
	(2)  how much his Department expects to spend on  (a) travel and  (b) accommodation for (i) Ministers and (ii) officials attending the MIPIM international property conference in March 2010;
	(3)  how much he expects to be spent by the Homes and Communities Agency on  (a) travel and  (b) accommodation for officials attending the MIPIM international property conference in March 2010.

Barbara Follett: In 2007, 2008 and 2009, the MEPIM conference was attended by the following officials from Communities and Local Government:
	 2007
	Director General, Policy Programmes and Innovation
	 2008
	Director General, Housing and Planning
	Director General, Tackling Disadvantage
	Director General, Finance and Corporate Services
	 2009
	Director General, Housing and Planning
	Director General, Regions and Communities
	No departmental Ministers or officials have attended the MIPIM conference in 2010, either at the expense of the Department or at the invitation of the Homes and Communities Agency. Therefore, no costs were incurred by HCA for this purpose.

Non-Domestic Rates

Bob Neill: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what his latest estimate is of the take-up rate of small business rate relief in each local authority area.

Barbara Follett: The report 'Small business rate relief-improving evidence on eligibility and take-up: Methodology', published on 9 December 2009, provides details of the methodology to estimate take-up of small business rate relief. This methodology can only be applied nationally for England as a whole. Therefore it is not possible to calculate an estimate of take-up for each local authority. This report is available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/local government/smallbusinessmethod
	However, new experimental statistics on the number of hereditaments claiming small business rate relief (SBRR), published on the Communities and Local Government website on 25 February 2010, show that 462,000 hereditaments in England were benefiting from SBRR on 31 December 2008.
	By applying that figure to the eligibility estimates made for the 2005 rating list it is estimated that around 80 per cent. of eligible hereditaments in England were claiming SBRR in 2008-09-see table 1.
	Relief granted to small businesses has been increasing since SBRR was introduced-from £202 million in 2005-06 to £298 million in 2008-09. This represents a real terms increase of 34 per cent. This suggests that 92 per cent. of the maximum amount of relief that could be claimed is being taken up, up from 69 per cent. in the first year of the scheme-see table 2.
	This statistical release is available at:
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/publications/corporate/statistics/sbrrfeb2010
	The report 'Small business rate relief-improving evidence on eligibility and take-up: Methodology' will be updated to take account of these new numbers.
	
		
			  Table 1: Take-up of SBRR-numbers claiming 
			   2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Number of hereditaments actually claiming SBRR (thousand) 396 433 462 
			 Number of hereditaments eligible (thousand) 575 575 575 
			 Percentage of estimated eligible actually claiming 69 75% 80 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Take-up of SBRR 2005-06 to 2008-09-relief 
			   2005-06  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Relief available (£ million) 295 300 315 325 
			 Relief claimed (£ million) 202 237 259 298 
			 Take-up (percentage) 69 78 83 92

Armed Forces: Compensation

Hugo Swire: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has paid to relatives of servicemen killed in action in each of the last five years.

Kevan Jones: It is not possible to provide a definitive figure for all aspects of the payments made to bereaved families as benefits are payable under a range of different provisions and as the information is not held centrally it could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	The Armed Forces Pension Scheme provides a death in-service lump sum and the appropriate family forces pensions, including enhanced payments where death is related to service. It is estimated that at least £14 million has been paid in death in-service lump sums over the last five years to the families of those killed in action.
	The War Pension Scheme provides for ongoing payments to families of personnel killed, as a result of service, before 6 April 2005, with the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme (AFCS) making that provision for those who have died since that date. In addition to a Guaranteed Income Payment, a Bereavement Grant of up to £20,000 is payable under AFCS. Payments amounting to some £8.8 million have been made to bereaved families under AFCS since 2005 including those killed in a non-operational environment where death was attributable to service.
	Funeral grants are also payable where a service funeral is held or the cost of a private funeral (up to a current maximum of £2,786) will be met. In the region of £112,000 has been paid in funeral costs. In addition costs associated with family attendance at repatriation ceremonies and any pre-inquest and inquest hearings are met by the MOD.

Armed Forces: Merseyside

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much funding has been allocated to  (a) cadet forces and  (b) the Territorial Army on Merseyside in 2009-10.

Kevan Jones: The information is not held centrally.
	Funding for the Cadet forces in any particular area comes from a wide variety of sources including the single services, the use of subsidised accommodation, and local donations and fundraising efforts. To determine how much funding has been allocated to a specific unit would require a manual search of records and incur disproportionate cost.
	Territorial Army (TA) funding is not only provided through the Army but also from different sources dependent on how the infrastructure is shared. For example, funding may be generated by allowing another organisation, such as the Air Training Corps or Sea Cadets, to use the facility when not required for TA activity. This allows for the most efficient use of resources. To determine how much funding has been provided to Merseyside would require the manual search of records ranging from local agreements through to more formal arrangements with the single services, thus incurring disproportionate cost.
	The Government remain committed to the TA and the cadet forces. The TA continues to play a vital role in support of the Regular Army, not least on operations in Afghanistan. The Cadet Organisation dates back 150 years. It is one of the oldest and most successful voluntary youth organisations in the world. Today it numbers 131,000 young people, led by 25,000 adult volunteers, in well over 3,000 sites across the country.

Departmental Food

Adrian Sanders: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will take steps to ensure that the meat and dairy products procured by his Department and its non-departmental bodies are free range or produced to standards equivalent to those of the RSPCA Freedom Food scheme.

Quentin Davies: For UK armed forces personnel "in barracks", when personnel are not being fed under the catering retail and leisure contracts, and those serving on operations and overseas exercises, there is a single food supply contractor, Purple Foodservice Solutions (PFS).
	PFS increasingly takes into account ethical and sustainable criteria in their procurement, and is required to seek best value for money in the open market consistent with meeting Ministry of Defence food quality standards which are linked to the Office of Government Commerce Food Quality Standards.
	PFS procures meat and dairy proteins in the UK that meet the Red Tractor Scheme (a UK farm assured scheme which is the equivalent to the RSPCA Freedom Foods Scheme) and UK animal welfare standards. Any which are purchased outside the UK comply with the EU animal welfare standards.
	Dairy products meet the Red Tractor requirements, and eggs meet the Lion Standard, an internationally recognised Quality Code of Practice.

Departmental Internet

Oliver Heald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many designs for its  (a) internal website and  (b) intranet his Department has commissioned since 2005; and what the cost was of each such design.

Kevan Jones: The following designs have been commissioned since 2005.
	
		
			  Date  Work commissioned  Cost (£) 
			 March 2006 Enhancements to publishing templates and introduction of a new "Business Processes" area. (1)396,590 
			 December 2007 Re-branding of the Intranet to encompass military content. 29,238 
			 July 2009 Complete site re-design as part of upgrade from Microsoft Content Management System (CMS) 2002 to Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007. (2)200,000 
			 (1) Includes design and code development.  (2) Includes requirements capture and design. 
		
	
	A number of other internal websites are run by different parts of the Ministry of Defence, but these are not managed centrally. Information on these sites could be provided only at disproportionate cost. The Ministry of Defence is progressively reducing the number of internal websites and migrating their content across to the Defence Intranet.

Departmental Travel

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department spent on travel for its civilian staff between  (a) London and Edinburgh,  (b) London and Glasgow and  (c) London and the rest of Scotland in each of the last five years.

Kevan Jones: Travel between London and Scotland may be undertaken by a number of methods of travel (e.g. road, rail, air, coach). This information is not recorded by location and the provision of this information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Devonport Dockyard

Gary Streeter: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when his Department will make a decision on the future baseporting of frigates currently baseported in Devonport Naval Base.

Quentin Davies: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 27 January 2010,  Official Report, column 890W, to the hon. Member for Portsmouth, South (Mr. Hancock).

Future Rapid Effect System

Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence 
	(1)  when he expects to announce his decision on the preferred bidder for the Future Rapid Effects System armoured reconnaissance vehicle contract;
	(2)  what advice his Department received from the Treasury in connection with the choice of design for the Future Rapid Effects System armoured reconnaissance vehicle.

Quentin Davies: The Future Rapid Effect System programme has been recast from a single programme into a set of constituent projects, namely: the Specialist Vehicles; the Utility Vehicles; and the Manoeuvre Support Vehicles. An announcement on the competition for the Specialist Vehicle project has been made today in a written ministerial statement by the Secretary of State for Defence.
	HM Treasury has provided no advice to the Department regarding the choice of design for the Specialist Vehicle capability. The MOD reached its own decision on the choice of design based on the advice of expert assessment panels.

Group 4 Securicor

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions his Department has had with Group 4 Securicor on its proposals to have outsourced to the private security industry those services which are detailed in the unprinted paper reported to the House by the Defence Committee on 10 February 2010; and if he will make a statement.

Bob Ainsworth: holding answer 17 March 2010
	The Ministry of Defence has a number of existing agreements with Group 4 Securicor for the provision of Defence services. We are aware of the range of services that the company offers and they are, of course, free to compete for additional Ministry of Defence business through established procedures. My officials engage with Group 4 Securicor on both current business and potential future opportunities as required.

HMS Gannet

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many search and rescue call-outs there were from HMS Gannet between 1 March 2009 and 28 February 2010.

Bill Rammell: holding answer 18 March 2010
	The number of search and rescue call-outs from HMS Gannet between 1 March 2009 and 31 January 2010 are as follows:
	
		
			  Month  Callouts 
			  2009  
			 March 33 
			 April 35 
			 May 46 
			 June 35 
			 July 41 
			 August 44 
			 September 36 
			 October 32 
			 November 39 
			 December 42 
			   
			  2010  
			 January 37 
			 Total 445 
		
	
	Official Statistics guidelines do not allow the release of data prior to its official publication. The Official Statistics for February 2010 are due to be released by Defence Analytical Services and Advice on Monday 29 March. Search and rescue statistics can be found at:
	www.dasa.mod.uk

Navy: Scotland

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many naval vessels are permanently based in Scotland; and how many have been permanently based in Scotland in each year since 1997.

Bill Rammell: The Royal Navy currently has five submarines and eight surface vessels based in Scotland. The details for each year since 1997 are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of RN vessels base port in Scotland 
			   Surface  Submarine 
			 1997 11 8 
			 1998 11 9 
			 1999 11 9 
			 2000 13 9 
			 2001 14 9 
			 2002 15 9 
			 2003 13 8 
			 2004 13 8 
			 2005 12 8 
			 2006 9 6 
			 2007 8 6 
			 2008 8 5 
			 2009 8 5 
			 2010 8 5 
		
	
	The fluctuations in submarine numbers reflect the gradual drawdown of the Swiftsure class as they reach the end of their in-service life. Over the next few years, as HM Naval Base Clyde becomes the main operating base for all classes of submarines, there will be a gradual transfer of three Trafalgar class submarines from Devonport to Faslane. In the future, the Astute class and the replacement for the Vanguard class, will also be based in Scotland.
	The number of surface ships initially increased over this period reflecting the move of the Sandown class mine counter measure vessels to Scotland, then decreased reflecting the subsequent disbandment of the Northern Ireland Squadron following the NI Accord. The numbers are commensurate with the reduction in the surface fleet numbers as a whole throughout this period.
	Additionally some 23 small boats allocated to the Royal Marines are currently maintained in Scotland. These are not allocated to a base port in the same way as larger vessels; details of the numbers maintained in Scotland since 1997 are not available.
	I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement on 6 May 2009,  Official Report, column 16WS, which provided clarity to future base porting regarding the three naval bases under the Maritime Change Programme.

Royal Hospital Haslar

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether contractual provisions were included in the documentation for the sale by Defence Estates of the Royal Hospital Haslar to ensure that the vision for the future of the site referred to in the letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Defence to the hon. Member for Gosport of 16 July 2009 would be fulfilled.

Kevan Jones: The future of the site is now a matter for Gosport borough council as the local planning authority.
	As I set out in my written ministerial statement on 20 July 2009,  Official Report, columns 94-95WS, Our Enterprise has a vision of promoting the quality of life for both individuals residing on the site and for Gosport as a whole and will continue social and health care on the site by providing a "Veterans Village", student accommodation, community healthcare and a commercial centre as well as residential uses.
	Contractual provisions between the Ministry of Defence and the purchaser affecting the development of the site were not included in the sale documentation for the sale of the Haslar site.

University Officer Training Corps

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent discussions he has had on  (a) the funding and  (b) the participation of students in officer training corps units at universities; and if he will make a statement.

Kevan Jones: The Government fully recognise the value of the University Royal Naval Units, The Officer Training Corps, The University Air Squadrons and the Defence Training Undergraduate Scheme. They allow individuals to develop skills that are extremely valuable in a future career either within the armed forces or without.
	Each of the services is looking at how best to support the University Training Units; until those decisions are finalised I cannot speculate about future funding levels.
	No University Training Units have closed as a result of changes to funding during this financial year. Despite some reduction in attendance by Officer Cadets at University Officer Training Corps they remain oversubscribed against their establishment. The average actual strength in 2009 was around 3,500. This is against an establishment figure of 2,946.

Arrest Warrants

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what account was taken of each of the criteria in the Government's code of practice on consultation in preparing his Department's consultation on arrest warrants-universal jurisdiction.

Claire Ward: The question of arrest warrants for universal jurisdiction offences is not the subject of a consultation exercise. Given the importance of the issue, however, the Government thought it right to seek views from a small number of interested parties.

Lionel Crabb

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make available for public inspection in the National Archives all papers relating to the disappearance and death in 1956 of Commander Buster Lionel Crabb RN, OBE, GM; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: The National Archives holds a number of records relating to the disappearance of Commander Buster Lionel Crabb (PREM 11/2077; CAB21/3887; F0371/122885; and ADM 1/29241), all of which are available for public inspection. Some portions of these records however have been retained by the transferring Departments under section 3.4 of the Public Records Act. Where records are retained, this is the decision of the relevant Department.

Prisoners: Death

Simon Burns: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many deaths of prisoners serving a determinate sentence were recorded in each year since 2005; how many such deaths were self-inflicted; and how many determinate sentenced prisoners there were in each of those years;
	(2)  how many incidents of self-harm were recorded by prisoners serving a determinate sentence in each year since 2005.

Maria Eagle: The information requested is combined in the following table:
	
		
			  Determinate sentenced prisoners( 1)  2005  2006  2007  2008  2009( 2)  2010( 3) 
			 Population 56,375 56,218 56,120 56,852 n/a n/a 
			 Deaths in custody 94 94 85 98 78 20 
			 Self-inflicted deaths only 29 36 29 25 20 4 
			 Self-harm incidents 13,128 12,241 10,719 11,730 n/a n/a 
			 (1) Determinate prisoners in this answer are defined as those recorded as serving the following sentences: less than or equal to six months; more than six months but less than 12 months; more than or equal to 12 months but less than four years and more than or equal to four years but excluding life.  (2) Population figures for 2009 are not available at the time of writing.  (3) Self-harm figures for 2009 remain subject to verification and are not yet available. 2010 figures are not available for similar reasons. Two deaths are currently awaiting further information before classifying. 
		
	
	Any death in prison custody is a tragic event. The Government, Ministry of Justice and the National Offender Management Service, (NOMS) are committed to learning from such events and reducing the number of self-inflicted deaths in prison custody.
	NOMS has a broad, integrated and evidence-based prisoner suicide prevention and self harm management strategy that seeks to reduce the distress of all those in prison. This encompasses a wide spectrum of prison and Department of Health work around such issues as mental health, substance misuse and resettlement. Any prisoner identified as at risk of suicide or self-harm is cared for using the Assessment, Care in Custody and Teamwork procedures.

Prisons: Visits

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will make it his policy to record centrally the number of closed visits made on the prison estate.

Maria Eagle: The National Offender Management Service records centrally the number of closed visits imposed within the prison estate. In 2008-09 closed visiting conditions were imposed on 1,817 occasions.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative data systems. Although care is taken when processing and analysing the returns, the detail collected is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. The data are not subject to audit.

Public Sector: Disclosure of Information

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 25 February 2010,  Official Report, column 664W, on public sector: disclosure of information, in respect of which of the 57 requests to the Unlocking Service which have been accepted the data requested has been released.

Michael Wills: The Unlocking Service is not primarily concerned with the release of data. Its main purpose is to allow people to resolve issues concerned with re-use and publishing formats of data.
	Where requests have been classified as resolved, every issue identified in the original request has been fully addressed. Two of the resolved requests related to the availability of data and in both instances that data has been provided. The remaining resolved requests relate to licensing conditions, copyright notices, publishing formats and charging.

Public Sector: Disclosure of Information

Nick Hurd: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice pursuant to the answer to the right hon. Member for Horsham of 25 February 2010,  Official Report, column 664W, on public sector: disclosure of information, for what reasons each request was given the status of  (a) resolved,  (b) unresolved and  (c) part resolved.

Michael Wills: Requests have been classified as resolved where every issue identified in the original request has been fully addressed and the current state corresponds to the requester's description of "My ideal solution" in the original request. If the request relates to the availability of data in a particular format, that data has been provided. If the request relates to a licensing issue, for example, that issue has been addressed.
	Requests have been classified as unresolved where the current state does not correspond to the requester's description of "My ideal solution" and where there has been no substantive change since the request was posted. Work will be continuing or the issue intractable.
	Requests have been classified as part resolved if there has been progression towards the requester's "ideal solution" but the current state does not fully meet this. Often in these cases there is continuing work or policy development. For example, a number of the requests relate to Ordnance Survey data, where commitments made in the Smarter Government White Paper address the requester's "ideal solution" but the issues are subject to a public consultation.

Sentencing

David Lidington: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many people serving a custodial sentence had their conviction overturned on appeal in each year since 2005.

Claire Ward: The information requested is not available. Data collected within the central IT systems does not currently hold sufficient detail to allow identification of the type of sentence which is the subject of each appeal against a sentence heard in the Crown Court or Court of Appeal.
	Annual statistics on all appeals dealt with in the Crown Court against sentences given in the magistrates' court are published by the Ministry of Justice in table 6.10 of the annual command paper "Judicial and Court Statistics". Annual statistics on all appeals in the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) against sentences in the Crown Court are also published in Table 1.6 of this report. The most recent edition, presenting statistics for 2004 to 2008, was published in September 2009.
	Copies of "Judicial and Court Statistics" are available in the Library of the House and from the Ministry of Justice website at:
	http://www.Justice.gov.uk/publications/judicialandcourt statistics.htm

Young Offenders

Jim Cousins: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many and what proportion of young offenders supervised by youth offending teams were in full-time training and employment in  (a) England and  (b) each youth offending team area in each of the last four years; and how many and what proportion of young offenders were on secure remand in each youth offending team area in each of the last four years.

Maria Eagle: Data relating to this question has been placed in the House Library.
	Education, training and employment: Table A shows the number and the proportion of young people on relevant youth justice disposals in each youth offending team in England who were in full-time education, training and employment (ETE) in each of the last four years. 'Relevant youth justice disposals' are defined as programmes resulting from a Final Warning with intervention, relevant community-based penalty or the community element of a custodial sentence. Relevant community-based penalties include Referral Orders, Reparation Orders, Action Plan Orders, Drug Treatment and Testing Orders, Supervision Orders (with or without conditions), Community Rehabilitation Orders (with or without conditions) and Community Punishment and Rehabilitation Orders.
	Full-time ETE is defined here as 25 or more hours for young people of school age and 16 hours for those above school age.
	Secure Remands: The number and proportion of young offenders on secure remand in each of the youth offending team areas in the last four years is not held centrally. However the YJB have figures for the average number of young people aged 10-17 on custodial remands in each YOT area in England in each of the last four years, which is shown in Table B. Custodial remand includes young people who are remanded in custody, convicted awaiting sentence or subject to court ordered secure remand. This data takes a snapshot of young people who are on remand at a particular point in time which is then averaged out over the year.
	The data have been supplied by the Youth Justice Board and have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large-scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing and may be subject to change overtime. Differences in counting rules may mean that figures from other databases are not directly comparable.

Cold Weather Payments

Danny Alexander: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 8 March 2010,  Official Report, column 68W, on cold weather payments: highlands of Scotland, in respect of how many weather stations cold weather payments have been triggered in 2010; what payments have been made in respect of each weather station in 2010; and what estimate has been made of the number of potential qualifiers in respect of each weather station in 2010.

Helen Goodman: The information requested is given in the table.
	
		
			  Cold weather payments in 2010 for weather stations linked to the Highlands 
			  Weather station  Triggers  Estimated number of potential qualifiers  Estimated number of payments authorised 
			 Aultbea 0 600 0 
			 Aviemore 5 800 4,000 
			 Cassley 5 400 2,000 
			 Kinloss 3 15,200 45,600 
			 Loch Glascarnoch 6 800 4,800 
			 Lusa 2 700 1,400 
			 Machrihanish 1 3,100 3,100 
			 Tiree 0 100 0 
			 Tulloch Bridge 7 2,100 14,700 
			 Wick Airport 2 2,600 5,200 
			  Notes:  1. The Highlands has been interpreted as the unitary authority of that name.  2. Some of the weather stations listed are also linked to areas that are not part of the Highlands.  3. Figures are based on triggers notified in the calendar year 2010 up to and including 17 March.  4. The estimates of potential qualifiers and payments authorised relate to the entire area the weather station is linked to, not just those in the Highlands.  5. The estimated numbers of potential qualifiers have been rounded to the nearest 100.  6. The estimated number of payments authorised for a weather station has been calculated as the number of triggers multiplied by the estimated number of potential qualifiers for that weather station.   Source:  DWP records of triggers to weather stations up to and including 17 March 2010 and estimated numbers of potential qualifiers by weather station.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reasons the departmental expenditure limit for her Department in 2009-10 changed from £9.728 million in her Department's three-year business plan to £9.2 billion in the pre-Budget report.

Jonathan R Shaw: The 2009-10 figure of £9.728 billion presented in the Department's three year business plan represented the total funding available to the Department. This included additional funding agreed at pre-Budget report 2008 and Budget 2009, to support the Department in its response to the recession.
	The revised figure of £9.2 billion presented in the pre-Budget report 2009 represented a departmental group which includes the Government Equalities Office.
	The Department for Work and Pensions proportion of this funding was £9.090 billion. This was reflected in the winter supplementary estimate laid in Parliament on 24 November 2009.
	The Department's final funding position for 2009-10 is set out in the spring supplementary estimate which was laid in Parliament on 23 February 2010.

Departmental Travel

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much  (a) Ministers and  (b) staff of each grade in (i) her Department and (ii) its agencies spent on first class travel in the last 12 months.

Jonathan R Shaw: The Department has over 100,000 staff operating from over 1,000 office locations across the UK. The Department's travel policy encourages staff to travel using the most cost-effective tickets available at the time of booking and staff must consider travelling standard class where possible.
	The spend for first class travel by DWP for the last 12 months (February 2009 January 2010) is as follows:
	
		
			   DWP first class travel spend (£000) 
			 Ministers 26 
			   
			  DWP agencies:  
			 Jobcentre Plus 3,134 
			 Pension, Disability and Carers Service 1,822 
			 The Child Maintenance and Enforcement Commission 995 
			 DWP Corporate Functions 7,452 
			   
			 Total DWP (excluding Ministers) 13,403 
		
	
	There was no first class air travel undertaken in the period in question and therefore all of the above figures relate to rail travel.
	The split by grade is not available for the required period.
	Travel by civil servants is undertaken in accordance with the principles of Managing Public Money and the Treasury handbook on Regularity and Propriety. The Civil Service Management Code sets outs regulations and instructions to Departments and agencies regarding the terms and conditions of service of civil servants and the delegations which have been made by the Minister for the Civil Service under the Civil Service (Management of Functions) Act 1992 together with the conditions attached to those delegations.
	The code can be accessed at:
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/about/resources/csmc/index.aspx
	Paragraph 8.2 of the code deals with travel and under this section Departments and agencies must ensure that staff use the most efficient and economic means of travel in the circumstances, taking into account any management benefit or the needs of staff with disabilities.

Disability Living Allowance

Steve Webb: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what her most recent estimate is of the number of people aged between 60 and 64 years old claiming the higher rate care component of disability living allowance on the grounds of terminal illness.

Jonathan R Shaw: holding answer 15 March 2010
	The information requested is provided in the table.
	
		
			  Disability living allowance special rules cases in payment receiving the higher rate care component as at August 2009 
			   £ 
			 Aged 60 to 64 10,500 
			  Notes: 1. Figures are rounded to the nearest hundred. 2. All recipients under special rules are entitled to the higher rate care component. Information on the mobility component awarded to Special Rules claimants is included, however this part of the award may not be associated with Special Rules. 3. Totals show the number of people in receipt of an allowance, and excludes people with entitlement where the payment has been suspended, for example if they are in hospital.  Source:  Work and Pensions Information Directorate 5 per cent. sample. 
		
	
	 Caution
	The preferred statistics on benefits are now derived from 100 per cent. data sources. However, the 5 per cent. sample data still provide some detail not yet available from the 100 per cent. data sources, in particular, more complete information on the disabling condition of disability living allowance claimants. The Department recommends that, where the detail is only available on the 5 per cent. sample data, or disabling condition is required, the proportions derived should be scaled up to the overall 100 per cent. total for the benefit. The figures have been rated to agree with Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study totals.

Housing Benefit

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for what reason tenants aged over 25 years may not as of right receive housing benefit for shared accommodation for amounts less than the sole tenancy amounts they would be entitled to if that is their choice; and if she will make a statement.

Helen Goodman: holding answer 15 March 2010
	Housing benefit is an income-related benefit administered by local authorities to assist people on low incomes who need help to pay their rent. Tenants in the private rented sector have their benefit entitlement restricted to an amount considered to be reasonable for the area and their accommodation needs. As from 7 April 2008 the local authority uses the appropriate local housing allowance rate, based on the area where the person lives and the size of their household, to determine the maximum amount to be included in the housing benefit calculation.
	In the case of single people aged 25 years and over and couples with no dependent children, the local housing allowance rate for a one bedroom properly would normally be used to calculate their benefit entitlement. However, if they choose to live in a property where they do not have either exclusive use of two or more rooms, or exclusive use of one room, a bathroom and toilet and a kitchen or facilities for cooking, the shared room rate would apply.

National Employment Savings Trust

Nigel Waterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what consideration was given to the scope for the re-use of established systems and IT infrastructure in the procurement process for scheme administration services for the National Employment Savings Trust;
	(2)  by what mechanism the Personal Accounts Delivery Authority intends to achieve its strategic aim of re-using existing business services and IT infrastructure for the delivery of services for the National Employment Savings Trust.

Angela Eagle: A major area of focus of the scheme administration services procurement process was consideration of the benefits of, and possibilities for, the re-use of established systems and IT infrastructure.
	At the pre-qualification stage, PADA challenged prospective suppliers on their existing pension administration services, client base and technology assets. Responses on these topics formed part of the consideration which led to four suppliers being short-listed for competitive dialogue.
	Throughout the competitive dialogue, PADA worked with the qualified bidders to understand how they would deliver the service using pre-existing, 'off-the-shelf software and infrastructures.
	The winning bidder, Tata Consultancy Services Ltd., demonstrated their ability and commitment to using established systems by building a version of the production system, based on their existing IT infrastructure, which demonstrated the strength of their capability to deliver the service requirements.

Poverty: Birmingham

Richard Burden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what percentage of  (a) the whole population,  (b) children and  (c) pensioners in Birmingham was living in poverty in each year since 1997.

Helen Goodman: Between 1998-99 and 2007-08 some 500,000 children were lifted out of relative poverty. Measures announced in and since Budget 2007 are expected to lift around a further 550,000 children out of poverty. Absolute poverty has been halved.
	Addressing pensioner poverty has been a priority for this Government. We have targeted help on the poorest pensioners, those who need it most, while providing a solid foundation of support for all.
	With the help of targeted support and additional funding there were 900,000 fewer pensioners living in relative poverty (after housing costs) in 2007-08 than in 1998-99.
	Estimates of poverty, published in the Households Below Average Income series, only allow a breakdown of the overall number of people in poverty at Government Office Region level. Therefore, information for Birmingham is not available, though figures relating to the West Midlands Government Office Region are available.
	Poverty for all individuals is presented both before and after housing costs. Child poverty is presented before housing costs and pensioner poverty is presented after housing costs, in line with the relevant Public Service Agreements. The most commonly used figures relate to those with incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median income for the three groups.
	Three-year averages are used to report regional statistics as single-year estimates are subject to volatility. Figures are quoted rounded to the nearest percentage point. The following tables show the percentage of all individuals (Table 1), children (Table 2) and pensioners (Table 3) in the West Midlands Government Office Region who have incomes below 60 per cent. of the contemporary median income.
	
		
			  Table 1: Proportion of individuals in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median for the West Midlands, before and after housing costs (percentage) 
			  Proportion of individuals (percentage) 
			  Period  Before housing costs  After housing costs 
			 1997-98 to 1999-2000 20 23 
			 1998-99 to 2000-01 20 24 
			 1999-00 to 2001-02 20 24 
			 2000-01 to 2002-03 21 25 
			 2001-02 to 2003-04 20 24 
			 2002-03 to 2004-05 20 23 
			 2003-04 to 2005-06 20 23 
			 2004-05 to 2006-07 20 23 
			 2005-06 to 2007-08 21 24 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Proportion of children in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median for the West Midlands, before housing costs (percentage) 
			  Proportion of children (percentage) 
			  Period  Before housing costs 
			 1997-98 to 1999-2000 28 
			 1998-99 to 2000-01 27 
			 1999-2000 to 2001-02 28 
			 2000-01 to 2002-03 26 
			 2001-02 to 2003-04 26 
			 2002-03 to 2004-05 25 
			 2003-04 to 2005-06 26 
			 2004-05 to 2006-07 26 
			 2005-06 to 2007-08 27 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 3: Proportion of pensioners in households with incomes below 60 per cent. of contemporary median for the West Midlands, after housing costs (percentage) 
			  Proportion of pensioners (percentage) 
			  Period  After housing costs 
			 1997-98 to 1999-2000 28 
			 1998-99 to 2000-01 28 
			 1999-2000 to 2001-02 27 
			 2000-01 to 2002-03 28 
			 2001-02 to 2003-04 26 
			 2002-03 to 2004-05 23 
			 2003-04 to 2005-06 20 
			 2004-05 to 2006-07 18 
			 2005-06 to 2007-08 18 
			  Notes: 1. These statistics are based on Households Below Average Income data. The Households Below Average Income series is available in the Library. 2. Small changes should be treated with caution as these will be affected by sampling error and variability in non-response. 3. The reference period for Households Below Average Income figures is single financial years. Three sample years have been combined as regional single year estimates are subject to volatility. 4. The income measures used to derive the estimates shown employ the same methodology as the Department for Work and Pensions publication 'Households Below Average Income' series, which uses disposable household income, adjusted (or 'equivalised') for household size and composition, as an income measure as a proxy for standard of living. 5. The figures are based on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development equivalisation factors. 6. Figures have been presented on both a before housing cost and after housing cost basis. For before housing cost, housing costs (such as rent, water rates, mortgage interest payments, structural insurance payments and ground rent and service charges) are not deducted from income, while for after housing cost they are. 7. Proportions have been rounded to the nearest percentage point. 
		
	
	A local child poverty indicator-including constituency level information-has been developed that captures the number and proportion of children in families in receipt of out of work benefits, or in receipt of tax credits where their reported income is less than 60 per cent. of median income. Details can be found via the HM Revenue and Customs website at:
	http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/stats/personal-tax-credits/child_poverty.htm
	The measure enables local partners to make an assessment of the level and geographical distribution of income deprivation in their area and focuses local partners on taking action to help raise family incomes.

Poverty: Children

Claire Curtis-Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many and what proportion of children in postcode areas L20, L21 and L22 were living in poverty in each year since 2000.

Helen Goodman: Estimates of poverty, published in the Households Below Average Income series, only allow a breakdown of the overall number of people in poverty at Government Office Region level. Therefore, information for the postcode areas L20, L21 and L22 are not available.

Social Security Benefits

Paul Rowen: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether guidance has been issued to local authorities on the application of the provisions of the Contracting Out (Functions of Local Authorities: Income-Related Benefits) Order 2002 to  (a) the contracting out of (i) the administration of income-related benefits relating to local housing allowance applications and (ii) functions relating to other income-related benefits and  (b) the agreement of a contractual arrangement relating to the administration of income-related benefits without making financial payments for the service;
	(2)  what her Department's policy is on the contracting out by local authorities of arrangements for income-related benefits.

Helen Goodman: holding answer 16 March 2010
	The policy on the contracting out by local authorities of arrangements for income-related benefits is set out in The Contracting Out (Functions of Local Authorities: Income-Related Benefits) Order 2002 [SI 2002 No. 1888]. This order, which came into force on 25 July 2002, allows local authorities to authorise people other than those directly employed by them, to carry out a wider range of functions connected with the administration of housing benefit (including local housing allowance), council tax benefit and discretionary housing payments. The order does not change local authorities' ultimate responsibility and they remain fully accountable and responsible for the administration of these benefits.
	Guidance circular HB/CTB A22/2002 was issued to local authorities in September 2002, giving information about the order. A copy has been placed in the Library.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions pursuant to the answer of 22 February 2010,  Official Report, column 105W, on social security benefits: fraud, how many ongoing investigations there are into cases of benefit fraud in each of the countries listed; how many of her Department's investigating officers are based abroad, and in which countries; with which countries her Department has arrangements in relation to benefit fraud; what the total budget is for her Department's Targeting Fraud campaign; and how much has been spent on the campaign to date.

Helen Goodman: holding answer 3 March 2010
	 Information regarding the number of ongoing benefit fraud investigations in other countries has been collected since 1 April 2009. The number of ongoing benefit fraud investigations since then in each of the countries requested is as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 Spain 167 
			 USA 54 
			 Cyprus 32 
			 Australia 20 
			 France 40 
			 Greece 11 
			 South Africa 8 
			 Canada 8 
			 Eire 14 
			 Portugal 13 
			 Austria 0 
			 Bahrain 0 
			 Bulgaria 4 
			 Holland 8 
			 India 42 
			 Italy 13 
			 New Zealand 3 
			 Pakistan 138 
			 Thailand 40 
			 Trinidad and Tobago 2 
		
	
	No Department for Work and Pensions benefit fraud investigators are based abroad. However, there are 16 Foreign and Commonwealth Office staff based abroad funded by the Department for Work and Pensions whose duties include undertaking information gathering on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions to assist UK based fraud investigators in their work.
	The Department for Work and Pensions has Memoranda of Understanding with the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium and Australia and information sharing arrangements with New Zealand and the USA to ensure the correct administration of social security and prevention of benefit fraud.
	The budget for the 2009-10 Targeting Benefit Thieves campaign is £5 million. To the end of February the budget committed for 2009-10 is £4,803,420.52.

State Retirement Pensions

Paul Flynn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the effects would be on  (a) public service and  (b) other occupational pension schemes if the level of the basic and additional state pensions were both increased by 1.5 per cent. instead of 2.5 per cent. in April 2010; and how many pensioners would (i) gain and (ii) lose as a result.

Angela Eagle: Current social security legislation provides for public service pension to be adjusted by the same rate as the additional pension, and for such adjustments to take place only if there has been an increase in the prices over a given period.
	The effect of increasing both the basic state pension and additional pension by 1.5 per cent., compared with increasing the basic state pension by 2.5 per cent., would be to reduce the average increase in state pension overall as a result of uprating in April 2010, from around £2 a week to around £1.50 a week.
	More detailed data on pensioners' overall income split by detailed source is not available.

State Retirement Pensions

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the take-up rate of basic state pension was  (a) nationally,  (b) in Essex and  (c) in Southend in the latest period for which figures are available; and what it was in each year since 1997.

Angela Eagle: The information requested can be found in the following tables where available. The figures relate to the proportion of the population in receipt of basic state pension, who are estimated to be over state pension age and alive at the end of March 2009.
	
		
			  Pensioners in Great Britain in receipt of basic state pension 
			   Number  Proportion over state pension age (percentage) 
			 2009 11,100,000 94 
			 2008 10,900,000 95 
			 2007 10,800,000 96 
			 2006 10,600,000 96 
			 2005 10,500,000 96 
			 2004 10,400,000 96 
			 2003 10,300,000 96 
			 2002 10,200,000 96 
		
	
	
		
			  Pensioners in Southend in receipt of basic state pension 
			   Number  Proportion over state pension age (percentage) 
			 2008 33,400 97 
			 2007 33,000 97 
			 2006 33,200 96 
			 2005 33,200 97 
			 2004 33,200 97 
			 2003 33,200 96 
			 2002 33,800 96 
		
	
	
		
			  Pensioners in Essex in receipt of basic state pension 
			   Number  Proportion over state pension age (percentage) 
			 2008 277,000 95 
			 2007 270,000 96 
			 2006 263,000 96 
			 2005 260,000 96 
			 2004 256,400 97 
			 2003 251,800 96 
			 2002 247,600 96 
			  Notes:  1. The latest population and administrative data are from 2009. The latest population figures for Essex and Southend are from the ONS Mid-2008 Population Estimates.  2. The earliest available regional caseload data only go back to 2002. Figures for Essex relate to Essex local authority district and for Southend relate to Southend-on-Sea unitary authority.  3. GB estimates are rounded to the nearest 100,000 people, those for Essex and Southend to the nearest 100 people.  4. The remaining pensioners not in receipt of a basic state pension, but eligible, will be in the process of deferring their state pension. Following a period of state pension deferral a claimant can either: (i) take a lump sum that will have accrued at a rate of two percentage points above the Bank of England base rate or; (ii) Receive extra state pension whereby an additional one per cent. is added to the value of the state pension for every five weeks of deferral.

Stroud

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions if she will set out, with statistical information related as directly as possible to constituency, the effects on that constituency of the policies and actions of her Department and its predecessor since 2000.

Jonathan R Shaw: DWP lead the Government's response to some of the biggest issues facing the country-welfare and pension reform-and are a key player in tackling child poverty(1). As the biggest delivery department in the UK, DWP makes a difference to millions of people every day, helping them to lead safer, fairer and more rewarding lives that are free from poverty. We want to give people more choice and control over their lives and are committed to providing greater choice and personalised support to everyone who needs it so they have the opportunity to get into and remain in work. We believe that work works. Even in economically challenging times we know that work works for the most vulnerable and the disadvantaged.
	 Support to find work
	Through Jobcentre Plus, we are promoting work as the best form of welfare for people of working age. Since January 1998, the number of people unemployed in Stroud has increased by 31 per cent. to 1,840, and the number unemployed for more than one year has decreased by 35 per cent. to 200. From August 2000 to August 2009 the number of lone parents claiming income support in Stroud has decreased by 25 per cent. to 660.
	Our New Deals have helped lone parents, the young unemployed, the long-term unemployed, disabled people, the over 50s and partners of unemployed people to move from benefit into work. Since their inception over 2.2 million people in Great Britain have found work with the support of the New Deal, and 2,670 have been helped in Stroud.
	 Support for children
	We introduced a target to halve child poverty by 2010-11 on the way to eradicating it by 2020. Poverty is measured using a headline indicator of the proportion of children in households with an income below 60 per cent of contemporary household median income before housing costs. This is in line with international best practice.
	Statistics on the numbers of children living in poverty are not available at the constituency level.
	 Support for older people
	Since 1997 our strategy has been to target help on the poorest pensioners while providing a solid foundation of support for all.
	This year we will be spending over £13 billion more on pensioners than if we had continued with the policies that were in place in 1997. Around half of that money will go to the poorest third of pensioners.
	In 1997 the poorest pensioners, who received income support, lived on £69 a week (£98 in today's prices). Today pension credit, which was introduced in 2003, means no pensioner needs to live on less than £130 a week, £198.45 for couples. As of August 2009, 4,790 pensioners in Stroud are benefiting from pension credit.
	In 2007-08 there were 900,000 fewer pensioners living in relative poverty in UK compared to 1998-99 (measured as below 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income after housing costs).
	Statistics on the proportion of pensioners living in relative poverty are not available at the constituency level. But the latest data for the south-west Government office region show that the proportion of pensioners in poverty (measured as below 60 per cent. of contemporary median household income after housing costs) fell from 24 per cent. to 18 per cent. since 2000(2).
	Pensioners in the UK also benefit from a range of additional support such as the winter fuel payment which this winter is worth £250 for households with someone aged between 60 to 79 and £400 for households with someone aged 80 or over. These payments provide vital reassurance to older people that they can afford to turn up their heating during cold weather. Prior to winter 1997-98 less than £60 million per year was spent helping pensioners meet their fuel bills - we now spend around £2.7 billion on winter fuel payments alone. In winter 2008-09 (the last winter for which information is available) 25,540 people aged 60 and over benefited from winter fuel payments in Stroud.
	We have also taken steps to strengthen and protect the private pensions system to ensure people can continue to have confidence to save for their future through the establishment of the Pensions Protection Fund, the Financial Assistance Scheme and a more powerful and proactive pensions regulator.
	The protection system ensures that, unlike in 1997, people are not left without a pension even in the event that their employer becomes insolvent.
	In total, 751 people in the south-west Government office region are receiving compensation from the Pension Protection Fund (data not available at constituency level)(3).
	We have also taken forward a radical package of pension reforms in the Pensions Acts of 2007 and 2008 which will deliver a fairer and more generous state pension and extend the opportunity of workplace pension saving to millions, many for the first time.
	The state pension reforms begin to come into effect from 2010 and will mean around three quarters of women reaching state pension age in 2010 are expected to qualify for a full basic state pension compared to half without reform.
	 Support for disabled people and carers
	Since 2001, we have significantly extended and improved civil rights for disabled people in areas such as employment, education, access to goods and services and transport. Disabled people in Stroud will have benefited from these improvements. The Welfare Reform Act 2009 contains powers to increase choice and control for disabled adults, including disabled parents who are entitled to state support, enabling them to choose how certain state support is used to meet their individual needs. This will be trailblazed in eight local authority sites from late 2010. Older and less well off carers have gained extra help through the provisions within the National Carers Strategy.
	(1) The Department for Work and Pensions was created in 2001 and so information relates to the Department and its predecessors.
	(2) Based on three-year averages and changes are rounded to the nearest percentage point or 100,000 pensioners between 2000-01 to 2002-03 and 2005-06 to 2007-08.
	(3) Regional information about assistance payments received by members from the Financial Assistance Scheme could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Arrest Warrants: Republic of Ireland

Andrew MacKinlay: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many European arrest warrants issued in the UK and served on a person in the Republic of Ireland resulted in that person being delivered to the UK authorities  (a) within one month,  (b) within two months,  (c) within three months,  (d) within six months and  (e) over six months of the warrant being served in the last three years.

Meg Hillier: It is not possible from current systems to provide data broken down by the time taken to secure transfer to UK jurisdiction of an alleged criminal from another member state of the European Union. To do so would require a manual examination of all files and incur disproportionate cost.

Asylum

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the  (a) mean and  (b) median time taken to process an application for asylum was in December 2009.

Phil Woolas: The public service agreement (PSA) delivery agreement 3, indicator 2 refers to the reduction in the time to conclusion of asylum application. The measure is to ensure a target percentage of cases should be resolved within six months.
	The method of reporting against the target is based on the performance of the specific monthly cohort of cases reaching six months. Hence all reporting is done against a six months timeframe. A cohort is specified as those new applications received between one and 31 of each month.
	The conclusion measurement requires applications to be granted asylum or some form of leave to remain in the UK, allowed at appeal or removed within 182 days (six months) to be counted as concluded.
	Performance against the targets has been published in National Statistics as follows:
	61 per cent. of new applications received in June 2009 were concluded, i.e. to grant asylum or some other form of leave to remain or to remove from the UK, in six months by the end of December 2009.
	Published information is not available in relation to conclusion of applications in timescales other than six months.
	In 1997, the average time for an initial decision was 22 months. Records are not kept for the average time for conclusion for this time.

Detention Centres

Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many full-time equivalent nurses provided health services at  (a) Dungavel House,  (b) Tinsley House and  (c) Yarl's Wood in each of the last six years;
	(2)  how many full-time equivalent general practitioners provided health services at  (a) Dungavel House,  (b) Tinsley House and  (c) Yarl's Wood in each of the last six years.

Phil Woolas: The three centres provide 24-hour on site medical care.
	The information available relates to period for which the current contractor has managed the centre.
	At Dungavel House, from September 2006 to May 2009, 7.5 full-time equivalent (FTE) nurses provided health services. This increased to 8.25 FTE from May 2009. 0.75 FTE of a general practitioner attends the centre daily with additional support through an on call service.
	At Tinsley House, for the past six years, 5.3 FTE nurses have provided health services. 0.5 FTE of a general practitioner attends the centre daily in the current year. In each of the previous five years, the FTE has been 0.7.
	At Yarl's Wood, from April 2007, 13.2 FTE nurses have provided health services. 1.1 FTE of a general practitioner attends the centre daily.
	This information is taken from local data and has not been subject to the detailed checks that apply for National Statistics publications. The data are provisional and subject to change.

Entry Clearances

Diane Abbott: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what change there has been to the number of entry clearance applications granted since the transfer of the processing of such applications from the British consulate in Tel Aviv to the British embassy in Istanbul; whether the decision to transfer responsibility for deciding such applications from Israel to Turkey was made as part of a wider Home Office policy; whether an equality impact assessment was carried out prior to this decision; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The hub and spoke programme was implemented in the British Consulate in Tel Aviv on 7 April 2008. From this date, applications have been processed at the British embassy in Istanbul. Entry clearance decisions in Istanbul are made by a team of entry clearance officers (ECOs), all of whom at present are British Nationals.
	Key benefits of the hub and spoke programme include the consolidation of staff and complicated administrative functions into fewer locations to improve productivity and efficiency; improved quality and consistency of decision making; greater resilience and flexibility of the overseas network by allowing staff and their work to be located in more stable locations; and the delivery of customer service benefits such as the increase in the number of locations at which applications can be registered.
	For the financial year of 2007-08, 1,886 visas were granted at the British consulate in Tel Aviv. Following the implantation of the hub and spoke programme, 1,500 visas applied for in Tel Aviv were granted in the financial year of 2008-09. Israelis do not require a visa to visit the UK.
	Although a formal Equality Impact Assessment did not take place, an internal impact assessment was carried out before the hub and spoke programme was implemented.

Entry Clearances: Africa

Hilary Armstrong: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment he has made of the effects of the introduction of the points-based immigration system on the number of doctors and nurses from Africa applying to work in the NHS.

Phil Woolas: The points based system enables health sector employers to recruit from abroad where no suitable residents are available. Where this is due to a national shortage of suitably skilled people the shortage occupation list eases their entry.

Entry Clearances: Overseas Students

David Lepper: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his Department examined visa requirements for students wishing to enter other countries with a substantial English language teaching sector in its recent revision of the Tier 4 points-based system.

Phil Woolas: Yes, as part of the review of Tier 4, the student tier of the points based system, officials examined the visa requirements in place for students in a number of comparable countries.

Entry Clearances: Palestinians

Michael Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department for what reasons the UK Border Agency did not issue a visa in connection with Fairtrade Fortnight to  (a) Lina Mahmoud,  (b) Belal Eid and  (c) Nahed Besharieh; and if he will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The applications were refused as the Entry Clearance Officer was not satisfied they met the requirements of the Immigration Rules. The reasons for refusal were set out in the refusal notices issued to the applicants. In light of further information received, the decision was made to issue visas. However, it has not been possible to contact the applicants to make arrangements.

Illegal Immigrants

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many illegal immigrants were detected at each of the main ports of entry to the United Kingdom in  (a) 2008 and  (b) 2009.

Phil Woolas: It is Government policy to restrict the publication of Border Force management information to a Regional level, as port-specific information could provide value to those seeking to circumvent our controls. The table therefore provides details of the number of illegal entrants detected by UK Border Force Officers at UK Ports, in 2008 and 2009, on a Regional basis. The information used to answer this question has been taken from a live database and is suitable for management information purposes. It has not been subject to the detailed checks required to qualify as National Statistics.
	In addition, the UK Border Agency, working together with its partners at the Juxtaposed Controls, prevented more than 28,000 individual attempts to cross the Channel illegally in 2008, and 29,000 in 2009.
	
		
			   2009  2008 
			 South Region 303 455 
			 North Region 23 45 
			 Total 326 500

Immigrants: Detainees

Angus Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the effect on the health and emotional well-being of children of transfers between immigration removal centres.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 12 March 2010
	The UK Border Agency takes health and emotional wellbeing of those in its care very seriously; this is particularly true of children who are regrettably detained-with their parents-pending their removal after they refuse to leave the UK voluntarily. We introduced a new duty in November 2009 contained in the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009, which requires the Agency to protect and promote the welfare of children. The Office of the Children's Champion, which includes professional advisers, is responsible for challenging the Agency to ensure it meets its obligations, and they provide constant advice and support to those responsible for detention and escorting matters.
	Prior to detention, the Agency conducts a formal assessment of each child to identify any particular medical, safeguarding or welfare needs in order to make the necessary arrangements to support them while in detention.
	Children can only be held in three Immigration Removal Centres. Tinsley House currently holds families for 24 hours and Dungavel House for up to three days. Those families who will be held for longer periods are taken to Yarl's Wood, as are those families in Scotland whose flights are departing from London. We do not normally move families between centres for any other reason.
	Prior to the transfer to Yarl's Wood, a number of assessments are made to take specific account of the safeguarding and welfare of the children making the journey. These include:
	The size of vehicle required to accommodate the whole family together;
	The length of the journey to ensure adequate comfort breaks, suitable child activity packs, dietary requirements and refreshments;
	Appropriate clothing for the weather;
	Feeding and changing facilities for babies and any requirement for child safety chairs and booster seats.
	The discharging centre provides Yarl's Wood with all health records, welfare assessments and care plans, documenting any special needs or support in place for the family to ensure continuity of care.
	On arrival at the receiving centre the family and children are individually re-assessed by a nurse within two hours and an appointment made for them to see a GP the following day. In line with the centre's safeguarding arrangements the children continue to have their welfare monitored and assessed on a regular basis by the multi-disciplinary team of healthcare, educational, operational and other staff, together with the resident senior social worker.

Immigration

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much his Department paid in compensation in respect of immigration casework in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office prepares its accounts in accordance with UK GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) adapted for the Public sector in accordance with guidance issued by HM Treasury.
	The information is not collated in the way requested but compensation payments/special payments are monitored routinely as part of the broader financial management arrangements in place within the UK Border Agency.
	The Agency is exploring arrangements to collate this type of information in future years.

Independent Police Complaints Commission

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate he has made of the proportion of complaints received by the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) investigated by the IPCC.

David Hanson: The IPCC is an independent body responsible for ensuring that the police complaints system in England and Wales works effectively and fairly. The IPCC are directly involved in investigating the most serious cases, which make up a small proportion of cases overall. The remainder of cases are subject to investigation by the local police force involved or to an informal procedure called local resolution carried out by the police.
	However in order to ensure that independent oversight extends to all parts of the police complaints system, complainants whose cases are dealt with by the police have a right of appeal to the IPCC.
	The IPCC also has a statutory responsible for the guardianship of the police complaints system. As part of that guardianship role, the IPCC analyses and publishes complaints statistics detailing the number and type of complaints made by members of the public and their outcomes. These reports are published on the IPCC's website.

Police

Sandra Gidley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment his Department has made of the relationship between the number of police officers in police forces and their effectiveness in carrying out frontline policing.

David Hanson: This Government's investment in the police is at record levels. There are nearly 17,000 more police officers than in 1997, and more than 16,000 PCSOs on the streets. Crime is down by 36 per cent. In every area, crime is falling and confidence is increasing. 50 per cent of the public now agree that the antisocial behaviour and crime issues that matter to them are being dealt with.

Police: Bureaucracy

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps he has taken to reduce the amount of time spent by police officers on administrative tasks since 1997; what steps he plans to take in the next six months; what estimate he has made of the average amount of time spent by police officers on administration per (i) day, (ii) week and (iii) month; what recent representations he has received on police morale; what reply he gave; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson: The Government are committed to reducing bureaucracy in policing, including the amount of time spent by police officers on unnecessary administrative tasks.
	This is why we have taken the following steps:
	Reducing by up to 50 per cent the amount of data that we routinely collect from police forces;
	Piloting a more proportionate approach to the recording of crime and incidents;
	Scrapping the requirement for police officers to complete time sheets for the purposes of activity based costing;
	Removing the requirement for police officers to complete a form when carrying out and stop and account encounter;
	Investing £80 million in the rollout of mobile technology, saving officers up to 30 minutes per shift as they are able to send and receive information while on the beat;
	Publishing a Policing White Paper which includes measures to improve efficiency in policing and also sets out our response to the recommendations made by Jan Berry, the independent Reducing Bureaucracy Advocate.
	Over the next six months we will:
	Ensure that these steps are fully implemented by all police forces;
	Work with the service to formally recognise proportionate crime recording as good practice and promote its adoption by forces;
	Legislate to reduce the reporting requirements for stop and search;
	Support the piloting of an approach to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy involved in the police charging process; and
	Continue to work with Jan Berry and the police service to encourage the adoption of more efficient business processes by police forces.
	Measures of time spent on patrol and administrative tasks have been discontinued as part of the Government's commitment to reduce the burden on police forces imposed by statistical and other data. The scrapping of activity based costing has been estimated to save up to 260,000 hours per year across the police workforce. This allows officers to concentrate their efforts on fighting crime and being more visible.
	The Home Office has not received any specific representation on the subject of police morale but my ministerial colleagues and I continue to enjoy constructive and regular discussions with police stakeholders, including the police staff associations.

UK Border Agency

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response his Department has made to the parliamentary ombudsman's recent report on the UK Border Agency.

Phil Woolas: At the time the parliamentary ombudsman released her Special Report on the UK Border Agency Lin Homer, the chief executive of the agency, made a statement saying:
	"We take the Ombudsman's recommendations seriously and welcome the assessment that our complaints systems are improving.
	The UK Border Agency is continuing to make progress in dealing with the legacy backlog of older asylum cases and has already concluded more than 220,000 cases. I am confident we are on course to conclude these cases by the summer of 2011."

UK Border Agency: Telephone Services

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many calls were made to the UK Border Agency MPs' Hotline in each of the last 12 months.

Phil Woolas: The information is in the following table
	
		
			   Number 
			  2009  
			 February 2,082 
			 March 2,468 
			 April 2,267 
			 May 2,344 
			 June 2,950 
			 July 2,586 
			 August 2,028 
			 September 2,311 
			 October 2,237 
			 November 2,177 
			 December 1,641 
			   
			  2010  
			 January 2,444 
			 February 2,097 
			 Total 29,632

UK Border Agency: Telephone Services

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the cost to the public purse was of providing all hon. Members with a pass code for the UK Border Agency MPs' hotline.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 15 March 2010
	The work of providing all hon. Members with a pass code for the UK Border Agency MPs' Enquiry Line was done as part of the day to day business of the MPs' Enquiry Line at minimal cost.

Business: Government Assistance

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  what recent assessment he has made of the effects on small businesses of the recent downturn in the economy; what assistance he plans to give during the next six months to small businesses; what representations he has received on this issue; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  what steps his Department  (a) has taken since June 2007 and  (b) plans to take in the next 12 months to improve the flow of credit from financial institutions to (i) small and (ii) medium-sized businesses; what recent discussions (A) he, (B) other Ministers in his Department and (C) officials in his Department have had with the Confederation of British Industry on this issue; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: The Government recognise the importance of small businesses to the UK economy. The lending commitments agreed with RBS and Lloyds over the 12 months from March 2009 have made significant amounts of lending available to creditworthy businesses. To help provide continued confidence to the business sector, these commitments will remain in place until March 2011.
	The Government are also exploring the development of non-bank lending channels, as outlined in its 2009 discussion paper. Officials have engaged with key stakeholders on this topic, including the CBI who supports the idea of non-bank lending for diversifying sources of business finance. As indicated at pre-Budget report, the Government will provide an update on non-bank lending in the upcoming Budget.
	More generally, the UK's small businesses proved resilient during the downturn: company liquidations were lower than in the 1990s recession and there were on average a total of 47,366 new start-ups each month in 2009-higher than both 2007 and 2008.
	Ministers and Government officials have continued to engage with trade bodies and the major banks throughout the crisis and will continue to do so in order to monitor the flow of credit to businesses. Ongoing work with banks and business groups through the Small Business Finance Forum aims to improve the transparency of banks' lending practices and help to restore confidence to the business sector.
	Government have also put in place a range of wider support for small businesses. This has included:
	targeted, temporary access to finance support through the 'Real Help' for business package, which included the Working Capital Scheme, Capital for Enterprise Fund and Enterprise Finance Guarantee (now extended to April 2011);
	a mix of permanent and targeted, temporary tax support to ease cash flow difficulties through Time to Pay (which will extend payment times for business tax on a permanent basis), extended loss carry-back arrangements (until November 2010) and a deferral in the planned increase of the small companies taxation rate (with the rate remaining at 21 per cent. during 2010-11);
	further progress in cutting the costs of regulation through a planned reduction of 25 per cent. in administrative burdens of regulation by May 2010; and
	increased funding for SME employers to invest in the training of their staff through Train to Gain.

Railways: Todmorden

Kitty Ussher: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Transport with reference to his contribution of 15 October 2009,  Official Report, columns 547-48, on the Todmorden rail link, what recent assessment he has made of the prospects for a fast direct train link from Burnley to Manchester via the Todmorden curve; and if he will make a statement.

Chris Mole: The Department for Transport has had recent discussions with the scheme promoters, Network Rail and Northern Rail about the provision of a direct service between Burnley and Manchester via a reinstated curve at Todmorden. It has been confirmed that such a scheme is feasible, but it would require capital funding of around £7 million for the reinstatement of the Todmorden Curve and it is most likely that on-going subsidy would be required at least in the early years.
	The promoters are aware that both capital and initial on-going subsidy costs of the scheme have to be funded through local and regional funding sources. The Government provide funding to the region through the regional funding allocation so that they can decide what projects should be given priority from the resources available. Once implemented, if the scheme demonstrates its success after three years then the Department for Transport would consider funding the service as part of the national rail network, subject to funds being available in the period 2014-19 (control period 5).

Children: Death

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many deaths of children  (a) nationally and  (b) in each local authority area under the age of five were reported in each of the last five years; how many such deaths were attributable to neglect or lack of parental care; and how many such children had been monitored by local authority children's or social services before their death.

Dawn Primarolo: holding answer 3 February 2010
	Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for each of the last five years from 2004 show that 3,591, 3,561, 3,716, 3,665, and 3,699 deaths of children aged 0 to four were registered each year in England and Wales. The following table gives the number of such deaths by local authority area.
	Over that period only one death of a child aged under five was registered as having an underlying cause of "neglect and abandonment". (This category excludes children aged under 28 days.) It is not possible however to determine the number of cases where neglect was a factor in deaths registered as being due to other underlying causes.
	Data on the number of child deaths where the child was being provided with a service from their local authority's children's social care at the time of the death is not collected centrally.
	
		
			  Counts of deaths in children aged 0 to four years by local authority in England, 2004-08 
			  Deaths (children) 
			  Local authority  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Barking and Dagenham 21 14 21 19 22 
			 Barnet 16 33 15 19 26 
			 Barnsley 20 13 17 13 7 
			 Bath and North East Somerset 10 4 12 10 5 
			 Bedfordshire 23 33 24 19 30 
			 Bexley 18 13 13 13 13 
			 Birmingham 155 137 167 154 157 
			 Blackburn with Darwen 15 23 19 22 17 
			 Blackpool 9 9 19 12 10 
			 Bolton 26 29 34 24 31 
			 Bournemouth 8 13 10 7 7 
			 Bracknell Forest 4 8 8 8 9 
			 Bradford 52 84 71 88 77 
			 Brent 22 24 32 29 38 
			 Brighton and Hove 23 19 21 18 16 
			 Bristol, City of 33 30 28 28 42 
			 Bromley 20 13 15 14 15 
			 Buckinghamshire 25 30 25 35 33 
			 Bury 16 11 13 11 9 
			 Calderdale 19 19 15 18 20 
			 Cambridgeshire 30 29 35 34 40 
			 Camden 21 19 13 13 12 
			 Cheshire 46 39 43 38 43 
			 City of London and Hackney 19 29 24 32 31 
			 Cornwall and Isles of Scilly 31 29 26 27 28 
			 Coventry 37 22 22 27 41 
			 Croydon 23 41 36 29 34 
			 Cumbria 25 21 28 24 27 
			 Darlington 7 8 13 10 10 
			 Derby 18 15 12 26 26 
			 Derbyshire 54 33 40 33 44 
			 Devon 41 36 32 38 28 
			 Doncaster 20 29 30 26 27 
			 Dorset 18 22 19 19 15 
			 Dudley 14 28 26 14 28 
			 Durham 27 33 34 28 25 
			 Ealing 21 24 30 20 24 
			 East Riding of Yorkshire 22 15 10 11 16 
			 East Sussex 27 19 33 25 35 
			 Enfield 24 32 35 31 28 
			 Essex 70 62 73 85 75 
			 Gateshead 9 14 18 15 16 
			 Gloucestershire 33 32 28 35 28 
			 Greenwich 29 16 29 27 19 
			 Halton 11 11 12 15 9 
			 Hammersmith and Fulham 9 14 13 9 11 
			 Hampshire 55 47 59 58 52 
			 Haringey 33 34 30 23 25 
			 Harrow 20 31 15 17 12 
			 Hartlepool 8 3 11 15 3 
			 Havering 11 6 15 10 8 
			 Herefordshire, County of 9 12 8 6 10 
			 Hertfordshire 55 62 50 58 73 
			 Hillingdon 15 15 20 27 16 
			 Hounslow 22 24 12 26 24 
			 Isle of Wight 7 1 6 6 8 
			 Islington 21 17 20 15 15 
			 Kensington and Chelsea 4 9 7 9 5 
			 Kent 68 83 78 74 77 
			 Kingston upon Hull, City of 15 16 29 15 25 
			 Kingston upon Thames 13 9 8 5 3 
			 Kirklees 46 41 46 42 43 
			 Knowsley 13 11 5 10 12 
			 Lambeth 31 31 28 28 29 
			 Lancashire 89 93 88 82 84 
			 Leeds 50 66 61 61 52 
			 Leicester 33 30 37 41 34 
			 Leicestershire 18 44 43 35 34 
			 Lewisham 18 29 23 20 35 
			 Lincolnshire 47 38 40 45 44 
			 Liverpool 33 46 36 33 35 
			 Luton 22 21 28 26 24 
			 Manchester 58 58 41 64 60 
			 Medway 24 14 17 15 13 
			 Merton 18 13 21 11 15 
			 Middlesbrough 11 15 8 10 14 
			 Milton Keynes 20 20 22 16 24 
			 Newcastle upon Tyne 21 18 12 11 23 
			 Newham 53 28 45 43 28 
			 Norfolk 41 42 44 47 41 
			 North East Lincolnshire 8 11 13 17 12 
			 North Lincolnshire 12 13 12 6 10 
			 North Somerset 9 6 10 10 10 
			 North Tyneside 10 9 8 9 5 
			 North Yorkshire 28 29 23 27 24 
			 Northamptonshire 56 41 53 50 49 
			 Northumberland 6 10 10 23 11 
			 Nottingham 27 29 37 29 19 
			 Nottinghamshire 44 38 46 49 49 
			 Oldham 26 17 27 22 23 
			 Oxfordshire 39 33 41 31 39 
			 Peterborough 12 23 23 20 17 
			 Plymouth 15 17 13 21 17 
			 Poole 8 6 8 8 10 
			 Portsmouth 13 10 10 11 15 
			 Reading 18 17 14 17 25 
			 Redbridge 26 20 29 28 19 
			 Redcar and Cleveland 16 7 13 6 5 
			 Richmond upon Thames 7 11 6 9 6 
			 Rochdale 14 17 22 21 19 
			 Rotherham 28 20 17 22 26 
			 Rutland 1 3 2 1 4 
			 Salford 17 17 20 21 23 
			 Sandwell 32 37 39 37 47 
			 Sefton 10 25 14 7 12 
			 Sheffield 44 34 45 54 34 
			 Shropshire 14 12 13 16 19 
			 Slough 10 16 16 16 22 
			 Solihull 9 14 15 10 20 
			 Somerset 28 24 23 26 27 
			 South Gloucestershire 16 9 16 7 5 
			 South Tyneside 7 7 12 8 5 
			 Southampton 7 15 14 14 21 
			 Southend-on-Sea 9 9 10 8 6 
			 Southwark 33 23 34 48 36 
			 St. Helens 12 16 21 11 12 
			 Staffordshire 48 55 53 70 50 
			 Stockport 22 18 10 16 18 
			 Stockton-on-Tees 21 8 14 11 15 
			 Stoke-on-Trent 33 34 25 23 21 
			 Suffolk 48 25 28 47 41 
			 Sunderland 26 8 16 19 10 
			 Surrey 40 51 48 55 49 
			 Sutton 10 12 12 9 18 
			 Swindon 17 12 10 14 15 
			 Tameside 11 10 20 12 20 
			 Telford and Wrekin 12 10 17 6 22 
			 Thurrock 8 9 17 16 14 
			 Torbay 6 10 8 6 6 
			 Tower Hamlets 20 20 20 25 15 
			 Trafford 7 9 14 15 12 
			 Wakefield 26 27 22 19 32 
			 Walsall 37 36 28 32 36 
			 Waltham Forest 36 24 31 24 27 
			 Wandsworth 15 29 20 19 23 
			 Warrington 14 14 12 10 14 
			 Warwickshire 39 32 21 29 36 
			 West Berkshire 8 9 13 11 8 
			 West Sussex 38 31 51 41 35 
			 Westminster 17 16 18 12 8 
			 Wigan 14 19 31 23 19 
			 Wiltshire 20 22 24 14 31 
			 Windsor and Maidenhead 6 4 10 9 9 
			 Wirral 19 22 16 21 22 
			 Wokingham 3 4 7 11 8 
			 Wolverhampton 27 21 23 17 28 
			 Worcestershire 39 41 31 40 21 
			 York 10 16 11 13 9 
			   
			 England 3,591 3,561 3,716 3,665 3,699 
			  Source: Data extract from the SOPHIE database. Boundaries assigned using the August 2008 National Statistics postcode directory. Contact: Healthgeog@ons.gov.uk

GCE A-level

Tim Loughton: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils not eligible for free school meals achieved three A grades at A-level in  (a) 1997 and  (b) the most recent year for which figures are available.

Diana Johnson: holding answer 22 March 2010
	Pupil level data relating to free school meal eligibility was not collected in 1997. In 2008, 14,431 (10.5 per cent.) pupils not eligible for free school meals achieved three or more A grades at A-level. The percentage is of all pupils not eligible for free schools meals entered for at least one GCE/Applied GCE A level/Double Award in 2008.
	The figures relate to 16 to 18-year-olds (age at start of academic year, i.e. 31 August 2007) in maintained schools only who were eligible for free school meals when they were academic age 16. The figures do not include the achievement of students in further education sector colleges previously eligible for free school meals.

Teachers: Complaints

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families whether his Department has updated its study of 2003-04 entitled Allegations Audit.

Dawn Primarolo: Similar data to that collected in the 2003-04 Allegations Audit was collected in 2004-05, and less detailed data on allegations was collected in 2007. The data collected in 2004-05 was used to inform the development of guidance on handling allegations of abuse made against those who work with children and young people, but was not published as a data set. The data collected in 2007 was used to inform the review of implementation of guidance on handling allegations. The analysis of this data was included within the report of the review published in May 2009 and is available to download from the Every Child Matters website.

All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club: Travel

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport whether he has had recent discussions with representatives of the All England Lawn Tennis Club on the provision of transport for tennis players, officials and VIPs for the 2010 All England Tennis Championships by a company that is not licensed under the 1998 Private Hire Vehicles (London) Act 1998; and if he will make a statement.

Gerry Sutcliffe: There have been no such discussions with Ministers or officials in the Department for Culture(Media and Sport.
	This is a matter for the All England Lawn Tennis Club.

Genito-urinary Medicine: Databases

Stephen O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the new Sexual and Reproductive Health Activity Dataset will capture data from  (a) general practitioners,  (b) community contraceptive clinics and  (c) other care settings.

Gillian Merron: The Sexual and Reproductive Health Activity Dataset (SRHAD) has been developed to replace the aggregate KT31 Central Return, which currently provides limited aggregate information on contraception from sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services. SRHAD will capture data from all SRH services (formally known as family planning clinics/community contraceptive clinics) who collect the KT31 data and report it to the NHS Information Centre.
	Currently general practitioners and other care settings are not required to capture data for SRHAD. Inclusion of these services within the data standard is being considered for the future.

Mental Health Services: Finance

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much funding has been allocated to the provision of cognitive behavioural therapy in  (a) Southend,  (b) Essex and  (c) England in each of the last five years.

Phil Hope: Prior to the inception of the Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT) programme in 2008 no central information was collected about the funding of cognitive behavioural therapy in the national health service. Consequently, the Department on has figures for the period 2008-09 onwards.
	The IAPT programme has begun to roll out services in all primary care trusts (PCTs) across England over a three-year period. In years one and two (2008-09 and 2009-10) growth money has been allocated centrally to PCTs that have demonstrated, through the submission of clear delivery plans, that they are ready to run an IAPT service.
	In 2008-09 £33 million was allocated to this programme and in 2009-10 an additional £103 million was allocated across England, in 2010-11 £173 million will be allocated.
	In Essex, four PCTs have established IAPT services and a total of £681,000 was allocated in year one and a further £1,620,000 was allocated in year two.
	The PCT covering Southend is South East Essex PCT which established an IAPT service in October 2009 following the allocation of £517,000 of funding.

Agriculture: Subsidies

Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent discussions he has had with the Rural Land Registry on the accuracy of the maps used to calculate acreage for payment purposes; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Fitzpatrick: I either meet, or discuss with the chief executive of the Rural Payments Agency (RPA) almost weekly to discuss agency progress on a range of issues including the Rural Land Register (RLR).
	The RLR Mapping Update exercise currently in progress uses the most recent Ordnance Survey (OS) data available in conjunction with aerial photography to update the RLR maps. This includes improving the positional accuracy of our map data and reflecting any Real World Change and ineligible land recorded by OS and farmers. The acreage for each field is calculated in hectares after the farmer has agreed the boundaries and declared any further land which is ineligible for the SPS payment.
	As of 12 March 2010, approximately half of the 107,000 farmers who were sent maps as part of the RLR Mapping Update had agreed with their maps and the remaining half had requested changes to be made. RPA has now completed the request and sent confirmatory maps to over 72 per cent. of these farmers. Of these, only 3 per cent. have requested further changes to be made, many of which are new and have not been requested previously.

Animals: Smuggling

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the  (a) country of export and  (b) purpose of importation was of each importation of a species listed in CITES imported from outside the EU in each of the last three years.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The information available regarding the country of export and purpose of import for CITES listed species imported into the UK from outside the EU in each of the last three years has been placed in the Libraries of the House. The information given is for imports of live specimens of animals and plants.

Cattle: Diseases

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many cattle have been culled as a result of contracting  (a) bovine tuberculosis and  (b) other diseases in (i) Cornwall, (ii) the South West and (iii) England in each of the last 10 years.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The following table displays the number of reactors slaughtered as a consequence of bovine tuberculosis in each of the last 10 years.
	
		
			   Cornwall  South West Region (GO)( 1)  England 
			 2009 3,426 15,770 24,500 
			 2008 3,585 16,570 26,038 
			 2007 2,303 11,988 18,543 
			 2006 1,662 9,209 14,585 
			 2005 3,339 14,581 20,145 
			 2004 2,338 10,466 15,093 
			 2003 2,314 10,461 15,120 
			 2002 2,616 10,608 15,482 
			 2001 702 2,452 3,804 
			 2000 1,105 4,529 7,073 
			 (1) The South West Government Office region includes; Avon, Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Gloucestershire, the Isles of Scilly, Somerset and Wiltshire.  Notes: 1. Data from Vetnet is produced three months in arrears and the latest report available is for December 2009. Therefore data cannot be provided for the last three months. 2. Data from Vetnet is provisional and subject to change as more data becomes available.  Source:  Vetnet 
		
	
	The following table shows the number of cattle killed on suspicion of being affected with bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in England in each of the last 10 years.
	
		
			   England  South West Region  Cornwall 
			 2009 12 6 4 
			 2008 28 14 3 
			 2007 53 25 5 
			 2006 96 38 6 
			 2005 122 53 18 
			 2004 258 96 22 
			 2003 340 150 39 
			 2002 687 238 60 
			 2001 1,009 333 64 
			 2000 1,561 539 101 
			  Source:  Veterinary Laboratories Agency's BSE Database 
		
	
	For the Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) outbreak of 2001, the number of cattle culled as a result of contracting FMD during 2001 was 1,407 in Cornwall, 86,630 in the South West and 581,802 in England.
	For the FMD outbreak of 2007, no cattle were culled in Cornwall or the South West during 2007 as a result of contracting the disease, but 982 cattle were culled in England.
	For the Bluetongue outbreak of 2007, no cattle were culled in Cornwall or the South West during 2007 as a result of contracting the disease, but five cows were culled in England.
	The above figures were sourced from Animal Health.

Nature Conservation

David Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps he is taking in  (a) this country and  (b) international fora to curb illegal trade in endangered species.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Primary responsibility for enforcing wildlife legislation rests with the Police Service and the UK Border Agency. DEFRA actively supports their activities through the Partnership for Action Against Wildlife Crime (PAW).
	DEFRA, together with the Home Office, is the main source of funding for the National Wildlife Crime Unit (NWCU). The UK is one of only a handful of countries having a specialist wildlife crime unit and is a world leader in this respect. The Unit spearheads national action to reduce wildlife crime and is the UK's focal point for international wildlife crime enquiries.
	The UK has selected wildlife crime priorities for urgent action, either because of their impact on the conservation of certain species or because high levels of crime have been reported. The priorities include species covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
	Endangered species listed on annex A to CITES require licences in order to be traded within the UK. Animal Health operates a panel of wildlife inspectors who carry out inspections to ensure that the legislation is complied with; it also has an enforcement team which provides information from its records in support of prosecutions.
	Internationally, the UK Government (through DEFRA) is the current chair of the Coalition Against Wildlife Trafficking (CAWT) - an international organisation which aims to focus public and political attention and resources on ending the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife products.
	Further international protection is offered by the UK's commitment to working with 174 other countries through our membership of CITES. Through CITES, member countries work to protect endangered species of plants, and animals by restricting and monitoring international trade in them.

Noise

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what recent representations he has received on the Noise Policy Statement for England.

Jim Fitzpatrick: Since its publication on 15 March 2010, no representations have been received with regard to the Noise Policy Statement for England. In developing the Statement, DEFRA officials met with all of the relevant Government Departments, including a number of key external stakeholders, ranging in interests from industry to non-government organisations, who expressed broad support for it.

Trees

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what estimate he has made of the number of trees planted in England in each of the last 10 years.

Huw Irranca-Davies: holding answer 22 February 2010
	Tree planting is normally recorded on the basis of area planted, and this is made up of a combination of new woodland creation and replanting after the harvesting of timber from existing woodland.
	The area of planting and restocking over the last ten years is given in the following table.
	
		
			  Hectares 
			  Year ending 31 March  New woodland creation  Replanting of existing woodland 
			   Broad leaf  Conifer  Broadleaf  Conifer 
			 2000 5,200 700 1,400 2,500 
			 2001 5,200 700 1,200 2,700 
			 2002 4,700 700 800 2,600 
			 2003 5,400 500 900 2,400 
			 2004 4,400 200 900 2,300 
			 2005 5,100 200 900 2,000 
			 2006 3,600 100 1,100 2,100 
			 2007 3,100 100 900 1,800 
			 2008 2,500 100 1,500 2,000 
			 2009 2,100 Nil 1,500 1,700 
		
	
	It is estimated that broad-leaved planting is at an average density of 1,500 trees per hectare, and conifer planting is at an average density of 2,200 trees per hectare, for both new woodland creation and replanting.

Apprentices

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people completed an apprenticeship in each industry or service sector in each quarter of the last five years.

Kevin Brennan: Table 1 shows the number of Apprenticeship achievements by Sector Subject Area from 2004/05 to 2008/09. A copy will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
	Information on the number of Apprenticeship achievements by Sector Subject Area is published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 17 December:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/sfrdec09

Apprentices: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many people have completed apprenticeships in York in each year since 1996-97.

Kevin Brennan: The following table shows Apprenticeship achievements for York local authority and City of York parliamentary constituency from 2003/04 onwards, the earliest year for which comparable data are available.
	
		
			  Apprenticeship framework achievements for York local authority and City of York parliamentary constituency, 2003/04 to 2008/09 
			   2003/04  2004/05  2005/06  2006/07  2007/08  2008/09 
			 York local authority 200 200 300 500 400 600 
			 City of York parliamentary constituency 90 120 210 280 230 380 
			  Notes: 1. Figures for York local authority are rounded to the nearest hundred. Figures for City of York parliamentary constituency are rounded to the nearest ten. 2. Figures are based upon home postcode of the learner. 3. Figures include Apprenticeship, Advanced Apprenticeships and Higher Level Apprenticeships. 4. In order to be counted as a successful achievement, all elements of the framework must have been achieved.  Source: Individualised Learner Record 
		
	
	Information on the number of Apprenticeship achievements is published in a quarterly statistical first release (SFR). The latest SFR was published on 17 December:
	http://www.thedataservice.org.uk/statistics/sfrdec09

Broadband

Phil Willis: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills whether he plans to extend the general access fund for the roll-out of broadband services to mobile as well as fixed line operators; and when he expects the new arrangements to be operable.

Stephen Timms: Government is currently consulting on the proposals for the Next Generation Fund, which includes an explanation of the various technologies that may be used to deliver superfast broadband to 90 per cent. of UK households. Further decisions will be announced in due course.

Business: Preston

Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department and its predecessors have taken to support small businesses in Preston since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: Northwest Development Agency (NWDA) established in 1999 has provided extensive support to small businesses across the region including Preston. The NWDA's main support for small businesses is through regionally available 'Solutions for Business' products in which the agency invested £92.75 million in 2008/09. The 'Solutions for Business' portfolio includes: business finance, improving innovation and efficiency, business start-up, advice on international trade, work force training, and sector development through regional cluster organisations. The primary access point is Business Link North West (BLNW) which provides companies with information, diagnostics and brokerage to specific types of support. Since 2007 BLNW has assisted 5,808 companies in Preston. In addition, NWDA has supported two Single Regeneration Budget (SRB) schemes in the Preston area, one supporting small businesses in Deepdale and the other a £20 million scheme at Avenham. The agency also supported managed workspace at the "Harris Business Centre" operated by UCLAN.

Chorley

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills if he will set out, with statistical information as closely related to Chorley constituency as possible, the effect on that constituency of the policies of his Department and its predecessors since 1997.

Rosie Winterton: Since 1997, the policies and actions of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (and its predecessors) have focused on building a competitive economy and on delivering prosperity and sustainable economic growth. The implementation of BIS policy in Chorley has been taken forward primarily by the North West Development Agency and GONW, working in partnership with the local authority and other relevant bodies.
	Caution must be exercised in seeking to attribute directly the effects of specific measures on local economic indicators. Nonetheless, examples of how BIS policies and actions have impacted on Chorley include:
	Levels of skills have increased in the years for which data is available, between 2000 and 2008. Performance at level 2 has increased from 62.7 per cent. to 67.7 per cent., at level 3 from 41.6 per cent. to 48.3 per cent., and at level 4 from 22.3 per cent. to 27.3 per cent.(1);
	The stock of VAT registered businesses has increased from 2,880 businesses in 1997 to 3,365 businesses in 2007(2);
	The proportion of business registrations (including VAT and PAYE) per 10,000 resident population aged 16 and above (National Indicator 171) has increased from 49.7 in 2002 to 59.5 in 2008(3); and
	The percentage of small businesses showing growth in number of employees (National Indicator 172) has increased from 10.6 per cent. in 2003 to 14.5 per cent. in 2008(4).
	(1) Extracted from NOMIS "NVQ Qualifications time series for Chorley".
	(2) Extracted from NOMIS, source: BERR-vat registrations/deregistrations by industry.
	(3) Data produced by BIS and available on the BIS website:
	http://stats.berr.gov.uk/ed/national_indicators/index.htm
	(4) As above.

Credit

John Battle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what recent representations he has received from  (a) consumer bodies and  (b) other organisations (i) in support of and (ii) against the introduction of a cap on charges in the home credit market; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: With regard to contact with those supporting a cap on interest rates, I met with Damon Gibbons of Debt on your Doorstep and the right hon. Member for Makerfield (Mr. McCartney) in October 2009. Damon Gibbons also wrote to me in November 2009 and in January, Joanna Kennedy of the Zacchaeus 2000 Trust emailed my constituency office. With regard to contact with those against introducing a cap on interest rates, John Moulding of Provident Financial wrote to me in November 2009.
	Government carefully considered the case for a cap on interest rates following research carried out by Policis in 2004. The research showed that imposing a cap on interest rates could result in lenders withdrawing from the riskier end of the market, including the home credit market, denying vulnerable consumers access to legitimate sources of credit and potentially forcing them to resort to illegal money lending. This was a view shared by leading consumer groups including Citizens Advice, the Association of British Credit Unions, the Institute of Public Policy Research, Which? and Advice UK. The OFT is reviewing the high cost credit market, including the case for a rate cap, and will report shortly. Government will respond to the review when published.

East of England Development Agency: Public Relations

Nick Hurd: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what payments the East of England Development Agency has made to Fishburn Hedges in each of the last three years; for what purposes; and if he will place in the Library a copy of the contract under which such payments have been made.

Rosie Winterton: Fishburn Hedges have provided support to EEDA with a wide range of communications and public relations support including specific public affairs services. This support includes high-level advice, legislative and policy updates, a parliamentary monitoring service, information, briefings and writing support, support on political visits and events, and parliamentary procedures. EEDA does not have sufficient capacity in house to manage all these areas of expertise. Total payments made to Fishburn Hedges in each of the last years are as follows:
	
		
			   £ 
			 2007 222,570.74 
			 2008 73,285.76 
			 2009 (to date) 90,942.28 
			  Note:  These figures are inclusive of VAT. 
		
	
	
		
			  2007 
			  Date  Amount (£)  Purpose 
			 2 January 2007 2,032.88 Destination Growth 2007 Planning and Development 
			 16 January 2007 2,321.72 Cut Your Carbon Campaign Development 
			 5 March 2007 25,819.39 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 5 April 2007 32,988.69 Month Monitoring Service and Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 13 April 2007 3,429.36 Month Monitoring Service and Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 16 April 2007 10,071.81 Public Affairs Strategy Development 
			 5 April 2007 24,866.33 Event 
			 5 April 2007 35,345.13 Essays-Development and Copywriting 
			 5 April 2007 42,122.86 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 4 June 2007 10,904.34 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 31 July 2007 5,461.86 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 17 July 2007 5,439.13 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 4 September 2007 5,421.61 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 24 September 2007 5,582.71 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 2 November 2007 5,422.78 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 17 December 2007 5,340.14 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
		
	
	
		
			  2008 
			  Date  Amount (£)  Purpose 
			 28 January 2008 5,324.90 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 29 February 2008 5,287.50 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 19 March 2008 5,287.50 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 28 March 2008 12,382.46 Month Monitoring Service and Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 9 May 2008 5,455.78 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 16 June 2008 5,352.13 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 14 July 2008 5,304.36 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 6 August 2008 5,364.99 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 15 September 2008 5,449.85 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 20 November 2008 4,012.43 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 20 November 2008 14,063.86 Month Monitoring Service and Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
		
	
	
		
			  2009 
			  Date  Amount (£)  Purpose 
			 16 February 2009 21,423.64 Month Monitoring Service and Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 30 March 2009 10,940.92 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 28 April 2009 10,892.19 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 1 May 2009 11,891.00 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 8 July 2009 6,234.55 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 19 August 2009 11,853.07 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 3 September 2009 5,855.74 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 19 October 2009 5,879.79 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
			 4 November 2009 5,971.38 Public Affairs Contract Consultancy 
		
	
	 Notes:
	There have three contractual arrangements between the East of England Development Agency (EEDA) and Fishburn Hedges since 2006 (the period to which the question relates). The following documents will be placed in the Libraries of the House.
	 Contract 2006062-Public Affairs contract
	This contract was for the period 1 April 2006 to 31 August 2006. It was an extension of a previous arrangement, under contract reference number 04/57, which ran from November 2004 to March 2006.
	This document has been modified only:
	(a) to protect individuals' personal data; and
	(b) to remove information relating to EEDA's internal processes. This information is commercially sensitive, in that it relates to EEDA's general approach to procurement strategy and supplier selection, and disclosure would not be in the public interest, as it would undermine the ability of EEDA to effectively conduct future procurement activities, and to achieve effective use of public money.
	 Contract 2006079
	This is the contract agreement for the multi-disciplinary marketing support call off contract that lasted for two years up to November 2008. This document has been amended to remove the specific daily rate referred to in paragraph 3. Please take the following into account:
	The amount of the daily rate in offer letter has been removed because it is information that is still of commercial significance to the contractor and to which a duty of confidentiality applies.
	The contractor's Proposal (Attachment 1) has not been supplied. This document contains:
	i. the personal data of individuals
	ii. information relating to projects carried out by third parties, and
	iii. information on the commercial and business method and interests of the contractor which retain commercial sensitivity and are subject to a duty of confidentiality
	The list of key personnel (Appendix D) has not been supplied because it contains the personal data of individuals.
	 Contract 2006084-Public Affairs
	This is a public affairs call-off contract.
	Two documents relate to this contract.
	The first is the original contract. It has been amended to remove the specific daily rate referred to in paragraph 3.
	The amount of the daily rate in offer letter has been removed because it is information that is still of commercial significance to the contractor and to which a duty of confidentiality applies.
	The contractor's Proposal (Attachment 1) has not been supplied. This document contains:
	i. the personal data of individuals
	ii. information relating to projects carried out by third parties, and
	iii. information on the commercial and business method and interests of the contractor which retain commercial sensitivity and are subject to a duty of confidentiality.
	The list of Key Personnel (Appendix D) has not been supplied because it contains the personal data of individuals.
	A second document extends the length of the contract noted above. It has not been modified.

National Skills Academies

John Hayes: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills how many expressions of interest have been received to set up new National Skills academies; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: The Learning and Skills Council (LSC) received 12 Expressions of Interest (EoI) to set up new National Skills Academies (NSAs), in response to the NSA Fifth Round Prospectus. The bidding round is an independent process led and managed by the LSC and an announcement of the EoIs selected for further development is expected to be made very shortly.
	National Skills Academies are successful in shaping skills provision in their sectors and in attracting employer commitment and investment in skills. This further expansion of the NSA network will build on that success, establishing NSAs as the leading employer-led skills delivery, and in taking us a step further towards the aspiration of having at least one NSA for every major sector of the economy as resources allow.

Post Offices: Closures

Peter Atkinson: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills 
	(1)  on how many occasions a sub-post office temporarily closed has been reclassified as a permanent closure since the first quarter of 2008;
	(2)  in what circumstances a post office classified as temporarily closed is reclassified as a permanent closure;
	(3)  how many sub-post offices which have temporarily closed in each quarter since the first quarter of 2008 remain closed;
	(4)  what the average time taken to provide a replacement branch in place of a sub-post office which had been temporarily closed was in each quarter since the first quarter of 2008;
	(5)  how many post offices classified as temporarily closed have been reintroduced as outreach services rather than re-opened;
	(6)  how many post offices temporarily closed have been replaced with the Post Office Essential Service.

Patrick McFadden: I have asked Alan Cook, managing director of Post Office Ltd., to respond directly to the Hon. Member and a copy of his reply will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Telecommunications: EC Action

Peter Luff: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what plans his Department has to bring forward legislation to implement the provisions of the new EU Telecoms Directives; and what consultation will take place prior to implementation.

Stephen Timms: The Department is working with Ofcom, the Information Commissioners Office and relevant Government Departments to determine what legislative changes are required to implement the provisions of the new EU Telecoms Directives, and has begun informal discussions with consumer and industry parties affected by the changes.
	We will consult widely over the summer with the intention of bringing forward secondary legislation under section 2.2 of the European Communities Act 1972 to implement the changes by 25 May 2011.

Telecommunications: EC Action

Peter Luff: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions his Department has had with (a) Ofcom,  (b) representatives of industry and  (c) consumer groups on the implementation of the new number portability rights and obligations introduced by the EU Citizens' Rights Directive.

Stephen Timms: The Department have had regular contact with Ofcom to discuss the maintenance and application of the number portability regime in the UK in general. Additionally they have held discussions to consider specifically implementation of the electronic communications framework review and the implications this has for number portability in the UK. Ofcom plan to publish a statement and a further public consultation shortly on improving number portability in the UK and although this was work which was already under way it is consistent with the provisions of the new directives.
	Ofcom's statement and public consultation will precede a fuller, separate, review of switching processes to take place later this year across the entire range of converging electronic communications sectors which will take into account the changes required by the EU Citizens' Rights Directive.
	The Department will consult widely on implementation of the European Framework Review (including the Citizens' Rights Directive) over the summer with the intention of bringing forward secondary legislation under section 2.2 of the European Communities Act 1972 to implement the changes by 25 May 2011. Some informal discussions have already taken place with operators (e.g. with Hutchison, 3UK and Vodafone) on number portability. We have also had informal discussions with Consumer Focus.
	More formal engagement on the detail of the new requirements is planned for the consultation and we are committed to engaging with Ofcom, industry and relevant consumer groups throughout the implementation period from now to end May 2011.

Telecommunications: EC Action

Peter Luff: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps his Department has taken to prepare for implementation of the new number portability rights and obligations introduced by the EU Citizens' Rights Directive.

Stephen Timms: The Department have had regular contact with Ofcom to discuss the maintenance and application of the number portability regime in the UK in general. Additionally they have held discussions to consider specifically implementation of the electronic communications framework review and the implications this has for number portability in the UK. Ofcom plan to publish a statement and a further public consultation shortly on improving number portability in the UK and although this was work which was already under way it is consistent with the provisions of the new directives.
	Ofcom's statement and public consultation will precede a fuller, separate, review of switching processes to take place later this year across the entire range of converging electronic communications sectors which will take into account the changes required by the EU Citizens' Rights Directive.
	At the same time the Department is working with Ofcom to determine what legislative changes are required to implement the new provisions and have begun informal discussions with consumer and industry parties affected by the changes.
	We will consult widely over the summer with the intention of bringing forward Secondary Legislation under Section 2.2 of the European Communities Act 1972 to implement the changes by 25 May 2011.

Telecommunications: EC Action

Peter Luff: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what discussions his Department has had with Ofcom on assisting business to meet the new number portability rights and obligations introduced by the EU Citizens' Rights Directive.

Stephen Timms: The Department are in regular contact with Ofcom to discuss the maintenance and application of the number portability regime for electronic communications in the UK. The Department have recently had discussions with Ofcom on their forthcoming statement and public consultation on improving number porting in the UK. This work was already under way and is consistent with the new directives.
	The Department will consult widely on implementation of the European Framework Review over the summer with the intention of bringing forward secondary legislation under section 2.2 of the European Communities Act 1975 to implement the changes by 25 May 2011. Some informal discussions with operators have already taken place (e.g. with Hutchison, 3UK and Vodafone). More formal engagement on the detail of the new requirements is planned for the consultation and we are committed to engaging with Ofcom and industry throughout the implementation period from now to end May 2011.

Young People: Milton Keynes

Mark Lancaster: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills what percentage of people aged 24 years or under in Milton Keynes are in education, employment or training.

Kevin Brennan: In 2008 it is estimated that 90.9 per cent. of 16 to 24-year-olds(1) in Milton Keynes local authority were in education, employment or training. These figures are the most recent available from the Annual Population Survey.
	Please note that, because the sample sizes for local authority estimates are small, this estimate is subject to large sampling variability and should therefore be treated with caution and viewed in conjunction with its confidence interval(2) of 5.3 percentage points. This means that the true value is somewhere between 85.6 per cent. and 95.8 per cent.
	(1) Age used is respondents academic age, which is defined as their age as at the preceding 31 August.
	(2) Those given are 95 per cent. confidence intervals.